Covid impact: Super-rich step up big stock sales after global prices surge

Volatility has picked up in recent weeks, with stocks halting a rebound that added as much as $30 trillion in global market value since the turmoil

Some of the world’s wealthiest people have sold more than $3 billion of stakes in their major holdings since August, diversifying their fortunes as stock markets rebounded.

Heinz Hermann Thiele offloaded about $1.2 billion in shares of Knorr-Bremse AG, the German brake manufacturer that underpins his fortune. Pieter van der Does and Arnout Schuijff, co-founders of Adyen NV, were part of a group of executives that sold stock in the Dutch payment firm worth $821 million, while Steven and Mitchell Rales pocketed almost $1 billion through Fortive Corp.

Volatility has picked up in recent weeks, with stocks halting a rebound